MANILA – Distributors from four countries are eyed to be included in the Bureau of Animal Industry's (BAI) vaccine study to combat African swine fever (ASF), the Department of Agriculture (DA) said Thursday.
In a phone interview, DA Assistant Secretary for Swine and Poultry Constante Palabrica said this will help boost the availability and affordability of ASF vaccines in the country.
“(That’s the) law of supply and demand iyan. Kapag marami nang approved na modified release ang FDA (Food and Drug Administration) ay bababa iyan. Ang aim namin ay pababain din ang presyo ng bakuna kapag ito ay (If there’s more approved modified release from FDA, the [price] will decline. Our aim is to lower the vaccine prices once it’s proven to be) effective,” he said.
Currently, each dose of ASF AVAC live vaccines ranges from PHP400 to PHP500.
Palabrica reported that four assigned ASF vaccine distributors from the United States, Vietnam, South Korea, and Thailand are already in the country for the filing of applications before the BAI.
"Itong mga countries na nabanggit ay nagkaroon na sila ng studies sa kani-kanilang countries at may nakita naman kaming liwanag doon sa kanilang result. Kaya i-entertain namin ito (These countries already have studies in their respective countries and we saw favorable results. That’s why we will entertain these),” he said.
The agriculture official, however, refrained from giving a timeline saying the BAI is “very cautious” to ensure the safety and efficacy of ASF vaccines.
“Dadaan ito sa proseso na ma-validate iyong resulta sa ginawa nilang experiments sa ibang country dahil importante na effective bago namin i-endorso sa (This will undergo the validation process for the results of their experiments abroad because it’s efficacy is important before endorsing it to the) FDA,” Palabrica added.
“Ang proseso ay mapatunayan na effective ito na pwedeng gamitin sa inahin at sa (The process [intends to] prove that this is effective both in breeders and in) growers,” Palabrica said, adding these will be tried in red and pink zones.
As of Aug. 8, the BAI said 251 barangays in 64 municipalities are still classified as red zones; while around 476 cities and municipalities are pink zones.
Overall, the DA targets to distribute 600,000 doses of ASF vaccines through its government-controlled vaccinations nationwide.
Subsidized vaccination
Besides efforts to increase the number of ASF vaccine suppliers in the country, Palabrica said a study is also underway to aid backyard hog farmers with the vaccination costs in the future.
“Pinag-aaralan ng DA na i-subsidize ang para sa mga backyard, dahil (The DA is now looking at subsidizing the vaccination of backyard because) they cannot afford. Pero iyong mga malalaki, hindi natin isa-subsidize, kasama sa negosyo iyan (But the commercial ones, we will not subsidize it because that’s part of their business),” he said.
Palabrica, meanwhile, reported the ongoing clustering for the government-controlled vaccination in Batangas.
“Kung makagawa sila ng sampung cluster, may sampung vials with 50 doses ang ibibigay (If they can create 10 clusters, 10 vials with 50 doses will be distributed),” he said, adding the 10 vials will equate to 500 doses for 500 pigs. (PNA)
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